Overlay file not included in the build

[Ruthrapathy]

I am working on new project setup. I have copied a sample blinky project from nRF connect SDK(C:\ncs\v2.7.0\zephyr\samples\basic\blinky) and board I selected in Build configuration is nrf52840dk/nr52840. I am trying to make use of the overlay file through which I can change the pin configuration of LED1 from P0.14 to P0.16. For that I have tried multiple ways for including the overlay file in the build

1) Placed the overlay file(nrf52840dk_nrf52840.overlay) in the projects root directory

2) Placing that file in Zephyr boards directory(C:\ncs\v2.7.0\zephyr\boards\nordic\nrf52840dk)

3) adding the file through CMakeLists.txt(by adding  set(DTC_OVERLAY_FILE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/nrf52840dk_nrf52840.overlay and set(DTC_OVERLAY_FILE "nrf52840dk_nrf52840.overlay")

I am seeing the zephyr.dts file and nothing was changing. Please let me know how I can solve this.

Talking the mind: It feels like the nRF connect SDK is so much complex that it feels like a nightmare even though we take advantage of the training courses, chat gpt,documentations?

[Edvin]

Hello,

I believe you just need to do a pristine build for it to look for new .overlay files. Usually, when I test these kind of things, I first try a normal build, if that doesn't work -> pristine build, and if that doesn't work, delete build folder and build from scratch. 

So try putting the nrf52840dk_nrf52840.overlay file in the application's root folder (the same folder as your prj.conf and CMakeLists.txt), and delete your build folder, and build the application. You can use this one for testing:

blinky_overlay.zip

Note that this behavior hasn't changed with NCS v2.7.0, but it is perhaps something you don't often encounter when working on a project for a long time.

Best regards,

Edvin

[Akshay]

Hi, 

Have you been able to solve this issue? I have started facing this all of a sudden in ncs 2.7.0.

[Akshay]

Hi Edwin,

I have solved the issue by downgrading the ncs vs code externsion version. apparently it seems to be a bug in the extension update released two days ago.

regards,

[shaun577]

I get the same result, spent a heap of time trying to get an overlay file working today before finding this post.  Downgraded to the earlier version of the ncs vs code extension and everything works fine.  Must be a bug in the latest extension.

[Edvin]

I am not able to reproduce this issue using the latest version of the extension (v2024.9.5 on extension pack, and v2024.11.22 on nRF Connect for VS Code).

Can you please specify what version of the extension pack you are using, what SDK version, and toolchain version? And also, please specify the name and location of your .overlay file, and also please copy and upload your entire build log, so that I can try to reproduce the issue that you are seeing. 

Best regards,

Edvin

[Akshay]

Hi Edwin,

see this  Overlay file not included in the build . The extension version that caused this problem for me was released in november 2024(last week), I think it has been removed now. I'm currenlty using v2024.9.5 and it is working fine.

[Edvin]

I understand now that you are talking about the GUI tool. The compiler will pick up your .overlay file correctly, but the nRF DeviceTree tool does not pick it up. Apparently it is a known issue for our tools developers. It should be patched in a future release.

Thank you for reporting!

Best regards,

Edvin